Hello 'geekyjules',
Is this about that? 231183239123
You mean to say the parcel came from China, cleared customs in Canada, then
was re-routed to Japan? Naahh, I must have read that wrong.
The listing does say it uses DHL in addition to UPS, yet as you have noted the only choice
shown up-front as available to Canada is UPS. It would appear you have seen this link about
what is and is not allowed regarding shipping:
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/selling-practices.html#postage
I suspect the way the seller 'covers' himself is to say he uses both methods:
"We ship most items via UPS and DHL"
Ebay's policy says, "You're not allowed to use a shipping method that is slower than the
slowest one indicated in the listing", sure, but the seller does, after all, say he may use DHL.
That bit of information is indeed indicated in the listing, and he did not send it using a method
which is slower than DHL.
I think that's how the whole issue can be 'gotten around', so to speak.
Most likely using DHL for this would have cost the seller less, or on the other hand the
seller may have known that UPS charges outrageous brokerage fees to Canada, though
not really likely. With UPS, on that amount you would have to pay all the import charges,
plus the high processing fee to pass the loot to the government.
If the DHL parcel goes through Canada Post, you may not have to pay charges if the
posties are overworked and too tired and busy. Or at worst, the tax plus Canada Post's
fee of only 10 bucks. (Well, $9.95)
I've never paid charges on a DHL parcel, but you might have to. If you are assessed for charges,
pay them graciously and without argument. It's the cost of buying internationally.
I suppose if the item does in fact take far longer than expected, you could always mention
the DHL in your feedback. In future when you see a listing in which 2 forms of shipping are
indicated, it might not be a bad idea to ask if the seller will be using the method stated, if you
are not provided with a choice.
If you are really in a fume about it, there is always the Customer Service phone line whereby
you could call and complain. You might like to wait to see just what the time difference is, as
you don't have the parcel yet and thus cannot say how great (if any) will be the delay.
